Photos of Pink Cadillacs: Mary Kay Cars and Others

The 2013 Society of Automotive Historians' Bradley Award goes to the International Motor Racing Research Center, Watkins Glen, NY.

Ed Garten presenting the Society of Automotive Historians’ Bradley Distinguished Service Award to the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen, NY, at the Society’s Annual Meeting held at the Hershey County Club,  Hershey, PA, in early October.  Receiving the award on behalf of the Center was Mr. J. C. Argetsinger, Center President.

The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) was founded in 1998 with a vision to be the world-class leader in the collection of materials representing the documentary heritage of amateur and professional motor racing, highlighting Sports Car, Formula 1, NASCAR, and vintage and historic racing.  In just fifteen years of existence, it has met that goal.  It has garnered a well-deserved reputation for providing excellent reference service.  Its website is a model—it is easy to use and navigate and provides a wealth of information.  The IMRRC has also partnered with the Southern Tier Library System (of New York State) to make its book catalog available through STARcat, its online catalog.  In-person reference service is equally benchmark.  One writer described the IMRRC as a “people’s research center” that treats everyone with respect.  The IMRRC is an important community resource for both the racing and local Watkins Glen community.  The IMRRC hosts “Center Conversations,” a free series of talks that “take listeners behind the scenes of motorsports.”  The website provides audio downloads of some of the talks.  The IMRRC has done an excellent job in gaining the support of the racecar community.  Some of the members of its Drivers Council include Mario Andretti, Hurley Haywood, Sir Jackie Stewart, and Rusty Wallace.  The IMRRC has a devoted following and from the beginning, it has been enthusiastically supported by racecar drivers, racing fans, journalists, and authors. 

The Society of Automotive Historians was founded in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1969. The Society is an international organization with nearly 1,000 members around the globe. The Society is an eclectic but serious community of historians that includes academic scholars, automotive journalists, publishers, museum and library professionals, educational and cultural organizations, automotive collectors, automotive restorers and other enthusiasts who may not be automotive professionals.

The membership of the Society encourages research into any aspect of automotive history. The Society actively supports the compilation and preservation of papers, organizational records, print, ephemera and images to safeguard, broaden and deepen the understanding of motorized, wheeled land transportation through the modern age and into the future. The Society promotes and supports the publishing of research findings to reveal automotive history in books, journals and conference papers. The Society supports the efforts of educators to teach college level academic courses and of those who introduce K-12 students to the panorama of automotive history.

The Mercedes Benz 600

Mercedes-Benz 600 (W 100, 1963 to 1981), Pullman Saloon (4-door). Interior with fine wood folding tables and radio.

Mercedes-Benz 600 (W 100, 1963 to 1981), Pullman Landaulet. Center console with tape deck (Pioneer) – including “Saturday Night Fever, Original Movie Soundtrack” cassette – and telephone receiver.

Well folks, this car is a bit out of my price range and class. The ultimate luxury ride for the rich famous want-to-be famous around the world. Here is some text from M-B:

 First presented at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt in 1963, the new “Grand Mercedes” is a prestigious, distinguished vehicle – luminaries from around the globe, representing the fields of politics, business and entertainment, used this car to make their big entrance. In terms of technology, the “600” set new standards too, boasting a 6.3-litre V8-engine, air suspension and a novel hydraulic comfort system. The hydraulics enabled not only automatic adjustment of the front and rear seats, but also handled the opening and closing of the car doors, the luggage compartment, the side windows, and the optional sliding sunroof.The five-/six-seater configuration on a standard wheelbase was mostly purchased by highly discerning private customers, whereas the seven-/eight-seater long-wheelbase Pullman and the Landaulet were primarily used as limousines for state dignitaries and other VIPs. Every single one of the 2,677 individually manufactured Mercedes-Benz 600s is unique.

Mercedes-Benz Model 600 (model series W 100, 1964 to 1981). Examples of luxurious travel comfort in 1963: a Lufthansa Convair 340 and the Mercedes-Benz Model 600

Society of Automotive Historians Book Signing, October 11, 2013, in the tent at the A.A.C.A. Meeting

2013 SAH Book Signing; Paul Lashbrook

2013 SAH Book Signing Doug Leighton, left; James Hinchliffe, center; Annabelle Sleigh, right

2013 SAH Book Signing; Bob Ebert, left; Kit Foster, center, Harriet Foster, right.

Hi folks -- I just got these photos yesterday and decided to post them. Friday was a brutal day weather-wise, with a driving rain much of the day.  I was scheduled to sign books at the tent, but decided otherwise, a good idea given the fact that I was coming down what later blossomed into viral pneumonia. But the ahrdy did come and enjoy a remarkable couple of hours of fellowship.Our kudos go to Paul Lashbrook, above all, and then to those who provided support for the event and attended. Next year will give us another opportunity to gather under the tend and sign books -- my Stealing Cars should be there as well as The Automobile and American Life.

Special thanks go to Paul Lashbrook for his vision and energy in making all this happen -- this was done despite some serious health issues.

Society of Automotive Historians needs a Webpage Editor

Society of Automotive Historians  needs a webpage editor for its website, www.autohistory.org. The editor's primary responsibility would be reaching out and being a conduit to the membership for SAH related news, events, deadlines, classifieds, as well as encouraging members to become actively involved in the site by submitting articles, photos and artwork. The editor would also be charged with setting up a forum page where members could exchange information.  He or she would be responsible for working with webmaster William Howell on the design of the website. This is an volunteer position. To apply or for more information, contact Tom Jakups (tjakups@ymail.com).

A Review of Christopher Wells' Car Country (University of Washington Press, 2012)

Christopher W. Wells, Car Country: An Environmental History. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-295-99215-0.

Christopher Wells' environmental history of the automobile in America to 1960 fills an important gap concerning our knowledge of the complex relationship that evolved between the adoption of the car and changes in the land.  Indeed, both rural and urban use in the U.S. experienced a profound transition during the first half of the twentieth century, much of it due to the widespread diffusion of the automobile. But it was not a one way street, so to speak, as landscape changes did much to prepare the way for the automobile to be at the center of American life. As highways and byways were constructed in response to the needs of numerous constituencies and resulting traffic, the nation became covered with concrete and asphalt, its nonrenewable energy reserves depleted, and its air fouled. Concurrently, however, in the trade-off, Americans reaped the benefit of sustained economic growth, flexibility and freedom for the constraints of space, a psychological obsession with speed, and the conveniences associated with a savings of time.

Beginning with a survey of transportation during the late 19 century and ending with the emergence of a full blown automobile-dependent Car Country in 1960, Wells takes us on a rather relaxed journey that centers on the built environment, arguing that the evolving constructed environment resulted in an America where for most individuals, cars became indispensable to everyday living.  Thus what we are left with is a classic case of path dependency. Yet imbalance rather than authentic flexibility was the dominating characteristic inherent to American transportation options by mid-twentieth century. And in attempting to understand how and why this happened, Wells subsequently pursued a line of scholarship that takes us to this book.

Divided into four sections and held together with a chronological thread, the author's main argument is that land use in America was the key to determining American driving patterns. Land was set aside for various types of thoroughfares (the infrastructure), and traffic laws, policies, and practices were negotiated amongst a group of technical specialists, urban planners, business interests, politicians, and the public. What ultimately emerged was a monoculture "that sacrifices environmental resiliency and complexity," and that this "lost complexity is not just ecological, but social, technological, and economic as well." (p. 289). The spirit of this book, then, borrows much from Jane Jacobs The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) and Jane Holtz Kay's Asphalt Nation (1998), without being nearly as shrill as the latter.

While much of the contents of this book contained no real surprises, two ancillary topics were of particular interest to this reader.  First, and drawing on the perceptive work of Peter Norton, Wells raises an important question concerning the viability of what might be called the "love-affair" thesis associated with automobility in America. And here he is right on in characterizing this interpretation as being on thin ice. More likely the love affair with the automobile reflected the thoughts of only a small minority of American car owners at any one time in history, and was perhaps the product of Detroit Three publicists and their journalist followers. This is definitely an area that needs careful fleshing out, but it is safe to say that for many Americans the automobile was always a contrivance to take them from one place to another, and nothing more.  Secondly, in his discussion of the Ford Model T, Wells claims that "The American environment -- and especially poor American roads -- thus had a direct and profound impact on how automotive technology evolved in the United States." (p.44). Again, the author is on to something important conceptually, but he does not follow this up with much of an historical analysis beyond the coming of the closed car in the 1920s. To examine the changing environment in the post-World War II era and engineering and design seems to be a logical follow up, with perhaps fruitful consequences in terms of the history of technology. Such an approach may well begin to explain Detroit excesses during the 1950s and 1960s.

In sum, Wells' monograph is a thoroughly researched and extremely well documented study. The attached bibliography is of real value to anyone interested in transportation history.  I will assign this book in my car culture courses, as it is exemplary of excellent scholarship.

John Heitmann

Department of History

University of Dayton

Dayton, Ohio